Source: Star-Ledger , Secaucus Reporter A gay couple in Secaucus, New Jersey was awakened at about 1 am in April, 2004 by the sound of raucous partying at the firehouse next door to their house. When one of the men asked the firefighters to keep it down, they responded with outrage, according to a civil suit filed by the couple which is being tried this week in a Jersey City courtroom. When Timothy Carter returned to the house after asking the firefighters to quiet down, a drunken mob banged on the side of the house and loudly threatened to kill the men and their dogs, according to the couple....
Source: Xtra West Vancouver's Odyssey nightclub, a gay stomping ground for over two decades, is looking for a new home following surprise announcement that construction on the club's current site will be begin quickly, Xtra West reports. The site of the classic and friendly "dive" club that has recently featured dancing along with drag shows and strippers is set to become supportive housing for people with HIV/AIDS "We were given notice May 1," said Michael Levy, the Howe St club's co-owner, adding he had expected the bar to remain at its current site until 2011...
Source: Caribbean Net News GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands -- A former Seattleite who was taken to a police station last week for kissing his boyfriend at a local bar has been issued an official apology by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. “I apologise for your upsetting experience and want to assure you that the Cayman Islands is a welcoming jurisdiction to all people,” Pilar Bush, the Caribbean island's director of tourism, wrote to Chandler. “What happened to you was an isolated incident, and is not representative of Cayman. We know that thousands of gay and lesbian visitors travel to...
Source: Houston Chronicle , Proud Parenting , Soulforce press release At a press conference in Houston Wednesday, Jay Bakker, a New York City pastor, issued an open invitation to families from Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church - the largest church in the U.S. -- to share a picnic with LGBT families in Houston’s Levy Park on Saturday, May 10, 2008. The son of evangelical Tammy Faye Bakker Messner hopes to spend his first Mother's Day weekend since her death at a picnic in Houston with members of Osteen's church and members of Houston's LGBT community. The proposed picnic is part of a...
Source: Denver Post , KMGH-TV , Rocky Mountain News Denver -- A lesbian couple who staged a sit-in at the Denver Clerk and Recorder's Office after being denied a marriage license was found guilty today of trespassing. Denver County Judge James Breese sentenced Kate Burns and Sheila Schroeder to 28 hours of community service each and ordered each to pay $41 in court costs, according to the Denver Post . (Other media outlets give slightly different figures for the fines.) The six-woman jury deliberated less than an hour before announcing the guilty verdict. Prosecutors argued that the couple...
Source: Associated Press via Boston.com , ABC6 , Providence Journal PROVIDENCE, RI -- The debate over gay marriage -- and gay divorce -- is taking center stage at the Rhode Island State House today as the issue continues a long and tortuous journey through the state's courts. Lawmakers are talking about several proposed changes to state law. They range from a bill that would allow gay couples to marry, to a constitutional amendment that would do just the opposite, defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The House Judiciary Committee was scheduled to hear testimony Wednesday on several...